Spezia-Verona is a salvation play-off match in Serie A 2022-23 to be played on Sunday at 20:45: lineups, predictions, TV and streaming.
It was 2005 when the last salvation play-off took place in Serie A to decide which team should be relegated. More than two decades later, the Lega decided to reintroduce the additional match in the event of a tie on equal points – which would also have affected the fight for the Scudetto – without taking into account either direct clashes or goal difference.
In the dry match at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, Spezia and Verona, who both finished on 31 points, will face each other. Should regulation time end in a draw, there will be no extra time: it will go straight to penalties. So 90 minutes of pure pathos are expected, between two teams that will try at all costs to avoid painful relegation. Let’s start with the precedents: with the rule of direct clashes it would have been Spezia who would have been saved thanks to the success obtained (1-2) in the first match, last November, in the last match before the break for the World Cup. A double by Nzola, the Ligurian team’s top scorer with 13 goals, overturned the Scaligeri, who had taken the lead in the first half through Verdi. Fear of losing, however, got the upper hand in the return match, which ended in a scoreless draw. Spezia, who seemed calm until January, paid for the disastrous second half, winning only once in the last 12 rounds.
Everything in 90 minutes: no mistakes
It is curious that the men coached by Leonardo Semplici, who took over from Luca Gotti in the league in 2023, have only beaten the two Milanese sides in addition to Torino, both of whom have been beaten in front of their home fans. In total, the Bianconeri have conceded 62 goals, three more than Verona. However, the number of goals scored was identical: 31.
Zaffaroni and Semplici
If the Scaligeri have avoided direct relegation to Serie B, they owe it to a decent second half of the season, but above all to the change on the bench. With newcomer Marco Zaffaroni, who came in during the World Cup stoppage time to flank Salvatore Bocchetti (without a licence), the music changed: Verona started scoring points again, reopening a salvation race that gave the impression it was already closed. The Gialloblù, however, did not succeed. On the last day they should have won at the San Siro against an aimless AC Milan, but Leao’s double (3-1) in the last minutes broke their dream of direct salvation. They also defeated Spezia a week ago, and the final minutes were always fatal: Dybala’s penalty in the second half gave Roma, who were fighting for Europe, three crucial points and condemned the Bianconeri to the play-off. This is not the first time Spezia and Verona have found themselves in a similar situation: in 2007 they faced each other in the playout of the then Serie C1 and it was the Ligurians who came out on top in the first leg.
Spezia-Verona: latest line-up news
Spezia arrive at the most important match of their season with important absences. There is no Gyasi, cautioned against Roma and disqualified. The same goes for Amian, who was sent off in the match at the Stadio Olimpico. Goalkeeper Dragowski is also in doubt: deputy Zoet is on alert. Not to mention the many absentees due to injury: Beck, Moutinho, Holm, Bastoni, Maldini and Caldara are unavailable. Nzola and Shomurodov should play up front.
Zaffaroni has far fewer headaches, forced to do without only the long-suffering Henry and Lasagna. Cabal will play in defence, while Ngonge and Verdi will support Djuric in the three-quarter.
The prediction
We expect another match dominated by tension and the fear of losing, along the lines of last March’s challenge. Both are coming from a far from positive end: in the last month Verona have won just one point, Spezia four. The total goals, between two teams that finished with the third worst attack in the tournament, should be less than three. Penalty kicks are not such a remote possibility.
Spezia v Verona matchday squad
- SPEZIA (3-5-2): Dragowski; Wisniewski, Ampadu, Nikolaou; Ferrer, Bourabia, Esposito, Ekdal, Reca; Shomurodov, Nzola.
- VERONA (3-4-2-1): Montipò; Magnani, Hien, Cabal; Faraoni, Veloso, Tameze, Depaoli; Verdi, Ngonge; Djuric.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
